< Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat/YMMV



The series as a whole

  • And the Fandom Rejoiced:
  • Complete Monster:
    • Quan Chi is the most treacherous, biggest asshole in the entire series, bar none. Making a list of the characters he's hurt or the atrocities he's committed is an afternoon's diversion, to be sure.
    • Not to let Shao Kahn off the hook, of course.
    • Noob Saibot wasn't very nice when he was still Sub-Zero, but even then he showed restraint in his actions. His trip to the Netherrealm, however, stripped away all of his moral limitations and transformed him into a Made of Evil Humanoid Abomination. The other villains are evil for their own reasons, but Noob Saibot is simply evil incarnate.
  • Draco in Leather Pants:
    • Sub-Zero (the older brother who became Noob Saibot from 2 onward).
    • Shang Tsung after his rejuvenation.
  • Evil Is Sexy: Pretty much every villainess (whether temporary or not). Mileena should be an exception, but she instead veers into Creepy Sexy due to an astonishing number of admirers. Shao Kahn is also considered to be this by both sides of the fandom.
    • MKX even made it much easier to find Mileena attractive by giving her human lips while still retaining Tarkatan teeth along her jawline, making her look far more human.
  • Fandom Rivalry: There are two groups of Mortal Kombat fans in their regards to Street Fighter—those who hate it because it's not Mortal Kombat, and those who want the series to cross over some day.
  • Fan Dumb: Hating every character who came out since 1995 because they're "new".
  • Freud Was Right: In the movie, Scorpion's Rope & Kunai is replaced with something similar but more "organic" in appearance.

The Nostalgia Critic: "... and Scorpion, whose hand looks like a vagina being penetrated."

  • Game Breaker: Various characters at various points, which is why the series has never been particularly popular for Tournament Play. In some of the games, the bosses are available for use, but, keeping with a general rule for Fighting Games, playing as them is nothing more than an easy way to get people to stop playing with you.
  • Memetic Mutation: Let's see: "GET OVER HERE!", "FINISH HIM!", "FLAWLESS VICTORY" (this one tends to be overlooked), "FATALITY", and a minor one for "Friendship. Friendship again?". The "Friendship" one originates from a finishing move that karried through from MK2 to MK3 and Ultimate MK3. For "Friendship", the winning player would usually "spare" the losing player's life in exchange for some wacky kut-scene playing in the background. Thus, the announcer (Shao Kahn), upset that the player did not "finish him" as expected, would say the above phrase. Also, some of us will still say "Superb," or "Excellent", or "Outstanding" the way Shao Kahn says it in the games.
  • Mondegreen: The first few games, despite being full of sampled speech, predate an era where sampled speech didn't sound like arse. Thus, a lot of things don't sound like they're meant to. Such as:

"Get in the kar!!"
"Your mother is from L.AAAAAA!"

The first game

  • Ensemble Darkhorse:
    • Scorpion. He, along with Sub-Zero, are long time fan favourites, and had practically became the "faces" of Mortal Kombat despite not being main characters. Despite being a brutal monster, his Darkhorse status often put him in a sympathetic light, such as being an Anti-Villain. Part of his appeal stems from the fact that his endings generally don't threaten Earthrealm at all. Even Ed Boon has openly admitted this, to the point that, in various interviews, he said that his favorite character has always been Scorpion, and that any Mortal Kombat game would feel incomplete without him. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 serves as the ultimate proof of this: it was Midway's apology for not including Scorpion in the original Mortal Kombat 3.
    • Sub-Zero (the elder). You don't get your own Beat'Em Up Spin-Off for no reason. It's ironic, since while he, the older brother, starred in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, his younger brother is the character that proved popular enough to justify the spinoff in the first place.
  • Follow the Leader: Any fighting game with either a focus on gore or digitized graphics that came out in the wake of Mortal Kombat was generally considered a knockoff.
  • Game Breaker: If an expert player's Sonya manages to land a single Leg Grab, consider yourself already dead.

The first movie

  • Adaptation Displacement: The theme song is one thing a lot of people know about the series, but it's never played in any games. It only appears in the movie.
  • Awesome Music: Besides the main theme, there's the remix of said theme by Utah Saints, the instrumental version of "Control" that plays while Liu Kang and Reptile are fighting, Halycon and On and On... and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: The fight against Reptile, added to the movie in the last minute. Without explanation the CG critter Reptile fuses with a statue he was kicked inside to take an appearance similar as in the games, and have a long fight sequence with Liu Kang. It's never mentioned again.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: A martial artist and two quasi-allies travel to a mysterious island to compete in a fighting tournament...
  • Ear Worm: Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo! Doo-doo-doo-do-do-doo! Doo-doo-do-do-doo-doo! MOR-TAL KOMBAAAAT!
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Linden Ashby as Johnny Cage.
    • More so however for Trevor Goddard as Kano. His performance was generally well received by fans and even the creators of the games loved his portayal so much Kano was actually changed from a Japanese American with little character to an Australlian born thug.
    • Christopher Lambert as Raiden was really entertaining too.
    • Reptile too. Many whom seen the movie thought his fight with Liu Kang was actually the best fight in the whole movie; even better than the final fight!
  • Foe Yay: This can pretty much be seen as how Kano views his little rivalry with Sonya. His dialogue throughout the movie about her pretty much casts any doubt of this

"She's here; right on time! I LOVE punctuality in a woman" *smiles*
"Maybe Sonya and I should share a cabin; have our own little honeymoon cruise"
"Ello baby, did chu miss me?"
"Give it up baby; I studied ALL your moves!"

 "Give me a break!"

  • Fridge Horror: After telling Johnny Cage about the tournament, "Master Boyd" is revealed to be Shang Tsung in disguise. Shang Tsung can only take the form of people he's defeated/killed in battle...
  • Genius Bonus: The traditional Kung Fu salute, palm over fist (well, its palm against fist, but the palm overshadows) represents Peace over Power. Shang Tsung's odd bow before the final battle, fist on top of palm, is meant to represent Power over Peace, reflecting the opposing philosophies of the two characters.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The Real Ninjas Wear Nikes meme takes on a whole new meaning now. See Special Effects Failure below.
  • Memetic Mutation:

"Those were $500 sunglasses, asshole!"

Yeah well, I'm kinda a big underworld boss myself!

 "Ello Baby, did you miss me?"

 "Give me a break!"

  • Special Effects Failure: Instead of regular ninja-esque tabi, Scorpion can be seen wearing what look like hiking boots during his fight with Johnny Cage. And in a bit of Freeze Frame Failure, If you pause the movie while Reptile's doubled over from Liu Kang kicking him over a banister, you can make out a Nike swoosh on the soles of his feet.
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